I knew this show was going to be underrated (and it will be, make no mistake) from the moment a very fine and jazzy Julius wrapped up; it's a show that doesn't fit into any neat categories, doesn't have an all-timer jam, and gets messy and weird at times, but boasts a second set that is well constructed from Piper on, includes some very fine playing, and is just sheer fun to listen to all throughout. The opening Golden Age slots in quite well with the monumental Fall 2013 versions, with Fish's superb rhythms underpinning a jam that oscillates between galactic space-funk and upbeat hose before turning dark and ending in an ambient haze that Mango works perfectly following. Yes, the transition from Sand to Piper is quite abrupt, the set's low point (Trey easily could have let Sand run its course instead of just barging in), but the resulting sequence is pure joyful gold, as:

a) the resulting Piper is more powerful than the usual 3.0 versions, with Page in particular doing fine work, leading to
b) a surprising super cool Billy Preston-esque groove emerging out of the end of Piper, which suddenly and hilariously segues into a unique version of Halley's Comet, as neat as the Rochester Golden Age is, which puddles into gauzy funk noodlings and then, on Trey's call
c) segues perfectly into Wombat, and Wombat finally makes its long-awaited debut as a jam vehicle, dropping out of its usual wah-wahed zone into something darker and more contemplative, finding a blissful haze (thanks again to Page, who owned this show), and coasting beautifully along before Fish picks up the pace and the band gallops to a nifty Runaway Jim-like close, which leads to
d) a ferocious CDT and relaxing Slave bringing the set to a fine finish.

To me, this is as close as 2014 Phish will get to early-90s Phish (which, lest we forget, was not exactly bursting at the seams with 25 minute jams), mixing in their usual strong improv with loads of funkiness, surprising segues, and a palpable sense of fun. Make sure to catch that first set Reba and Stash/Coil duo, too. Highly recommended.

Not really one for parsing shows song by song, stat by stat. I've always felt that the pleasure of a powerful Phish experience is in how it all hangs together.

Phish on 7/18/2014 sounded and felt more like the band I used to enjoy up through 1996 than the band I stared seeing again in 2012. I've been happy with Phish 3.0 (since the band and I are eyeing the same rocking chair), but this was something different for me in recent years. All I can say is, if they're playing shows like this enough to make 7/18/2014 just something average, then all of you who see them frequently are luckier than you know. And if they don't play like this all the time, then I guess those of us there on Friday were the lucky ones. That's certainly how I feel.

Fun show last night! I saw this via the webcast and really enjoyed it. The first set reminded me of last Friday's show at Randall's Island due to a lot of songs being placed in similar areas. While not as good as that first set, it was still very enjoyable. A slight flub couldn't detract from the always welcome, flowing Reba. Squirming Coil was a wonderful surprise after the likely set closer of Stash. The Stash itself was awesome with Trey throwing out numerous unique notes giving it a slightly different vibe than usual.

The second set was killer. Just killer. The Golden Age opener really set the tone and segued into a nice funk jam. It sounded like they were about to go into 2001, but Trey surprised us all with an always welcome Mango Song. The Sand>Piper>Halley's Comet>Wombat was jamming at it's finest. The whole band was locked in the groove with some goosebump inducing rushes when they really gelled together. Seemed like the audience was picking up on those moments as well.

The whole jam segment also showed Trey's mastery of the situation. You could tell that Halley's and Wombat were pure moments of inspiration as Trey went over to the other band members right before each song who nodded while they were all still in the middle of a jam. I always have such fond memories of Halley's after seeing the legendary Hampton 97 version. This one wasn't stretched out at all, but made the vibe glorious. It had a different feel than usual due to the preceding music it derived from. The Wombat that followed had a bouncy feel to it while being classic eccentric Phish. They nailed it. Chalkdust seemed a hair out of place, but tough to complain about anything especially with the excellent Slave that followed. Julius sent everyone on their way wanting more for tomorrow. Can't wait to see what they have in store!

PS - did anyone else have buffering issues with the webcast especially in the first few songs, but occasionally reappearing throughout? Hopefully they'll get it sorted out for the rest if the run.

Echoing the well spoken view of @noob100, this show will always teeter just below where it should. The 3.0 shows have geared us to look for certain things. A pedestrian yet fun first set with a rocking stash, too short but blissful gin or a reba that gets very close to the masterpieces of yesteryear. This happened.

Set two comes ready to punch after the "15 minute break" with the opener being the vehicle ready to drive the set and the subsequent narrative to reviewers. After the opener, there are several moments of type 2.

It would be easy to focus our attentions here because in 3.0 thats what we look for. However, look deeper. Look at the segues, listen to wombat take its first walk and play CDT side by side with Randalls five days prior. Noob100 is right, this will not fit into a neat pile. Therefore it will not hit 4.7 with a triumphant campaign to downvote it back beneath the sacred cows. There will be no red on a second set master. But overall, this is the best show since last weekend and yet another stop on what has been a high quality, impressive summer tour in 2014.

First set was pretty standard. I REALLY liked the ASIHTOS jam.

Second set Golden Age, Piper and Wombat were all great jams, but this is definitely a set you have to listen to all the way through. The segues from Piper -> Halley's -> Wombat are awesome. That whole sequence is phenomenal and is capped by a seriously hot Chalk Dust.

Don't cherry pick that second set; find time to listen to it straight through.

https://medium.com/the-phish-from-vermont/amazing-segue-or-ripcord-review-7-18-14-803c32ea2660

Amazing segue or Ripcord? — Review 7/18/14

In the wake of the song-based second sets in Canandaigua and Pine Knob, the pejorative term ripcord resurfaced in Phish discussions. It has grown to mean the moment where a jam appears to be ‘opening up’ into exploratory type ii territory, and then, jarringly, Trey will start a new song out of nowhere. Perhaps the most cringe-worthy moment of the tour was Wednesday night at Pine Knob when Weekapaug Groove appeared to be really breaking from its structure into some evil abstract jam, when the opening drums of Cavern completely interrupted the flow. Well, last night also saw jams ended abruptly in favor of new songs, yet many are praising its “amazing segues” and impeccable “flow.” The fact is, one of the coolest thing Phish ever does is unexpectedly bust into a new song in the middle of a jam(the very definition of a ripcord). I’ll never forget when I got my Maxwell XL II tapes for 7/22/97 and I first listened to the absolutely funktastic transition between DWD and Mike’s. The difference between a ripcord and an “epic segue” is of course the musical context around it. We call a ripcord, a ripcord, when Trey’s chords or notes for the new song seem to bear zero resemblance to the music that came before it. Last night’s “Chalkdust” was clearly a ripcord. But, the “amazing segue” from Piper into Halley’s was amazing not because the Piper jam had “run its course”. It was actually beginning to venture into incredibly interesting territory far from the ‘normal’ high-octane Piper jam we’ve grown accustomed to. No, the reason we call it an “amazing segue” is how the Piper jam just sort of “happened” upon a groove — a simple rhythm on an F chord — that Trey suddenly realized was very similar to the groove underlying “Halley’s Comet.” Watching the webcast, he burst out laughing at the moment of discovery. Now, when they started singing Halley’s it was a bit rough — they’ve never started singing the song midway through a jam — but, all things (re)considered, it was incredibly smooth. What is really interesting is how the song took on a new kind of character from the previous jam (a bit slower and looser). Once they got to the normal shredding guitar outro, Trey new that wasn’t right, the groove had to continue. But, rather than really letting the groove continue into an open Halley’s jam we all want and crave, he decided for more comic antics in the form of their new groove: Wombat! If Wombat hadn’t developed into the improvisational highlight of the night, I would have been upset with this ripcord, but I firmly believe the looseness of Wombat (even Fish sings it with more flair than usual) was predicated upon the looseness of Halley’s which was, of course, rooted in the groove in the Piper jam (if not, the Golden Age jam!). I think we need to see the jam out of Wombat as a continuation of the spirit inaugurated by the “amazing Halley’s segue.” Therefore, the type ii Womabt was really a type ii Halley’s…or something.

This review is coming late (busy day), so I’m not going to say much about all the individual songs. The first set song selection has really become a problem. The 100th “Sparkle” and “Birds”, and a healthy dose of Fuego material. Where is “Sloth” or “Curtain With” or even something fun like “Fee”? Just mix it up?!?! However, I really couldn’t imagine complaining about any first set that includes Reba (best of the tour by far, I think), Stash (the most ‘in the box’ version of tour), and Squirming Coil (very well played).

Set 2 began with the first cover that has been substantially improvised upon. A great choice with “Golden Age.” This one was just one long thick groove that just kept getting more intense (this one is not quite to the level of 10/27/13 though). It eventually developed a theme around a very simple two beat rhythm hit that repeats — this has been common in a lot of Phish jams lately (immediately I’m thinking of the Dicks ‘13 Chalkdust and MSG DWD). Near the end, however, things got very loopy and abstract and Jon Fishman just went crazy. Really. Listen to these drums.

You have to have ice in your veins to not love “Mango Song.” On the webcast, Trey was having so much fun playing it. Such a fun and also musically interesting song.

“Sand” — No one seems to notice, but this song rarely goes type ii — or does anything particularly interesting (unless you like Trey funk soloing over one chord for 5-7 minutes). The Camden 09 and Dicks 12 version give this song the allure of major jam vehicle, but it really hasn’t — and this one was one of the most glaringly short versions.

“Piper” — Saw the return of a very driving two beat rhythm in the drums (picking up where the “Golden Age” left off). Around 8:30 it gets much more abstract and weird, and very un-Piper-like. But, we had the “amazing segue” to follow.

If you like dancing, “Golden Age” was your jam. If you like soaring, melodic beauty, oddly enough, “Wombat” was where you could “have that.” Literally, who would have ever imagined this goofy ‘effin song to somehow get to this beautiful, serious space. At 4:oo in it is just doing its Wombat thing, funking a long, but the second Trey lets a melodic note ring out, Fishman slowed the beat and the jam started to move out into ethereal bliss space. But, then 4:23, they kicked back into the funk. Almost “dared” by Fishman’s earlier dramatic changing of the beat/rhythm, at 4:50 Trey starts his ‘trilling’ move which this tour signals — lets takes this out into spacier, bliss territory. But, Mike is continuing to play sinister funk grooves. After a while, (5:56 or so) Trey and Mike finally settles on a very simple two (eventually three) note melody that is repeated in lower register notes. This simple vamp then becomes the basis for the next 6 minutes of pure glory. Eventually Trey finds a chord progression that for a while sounds like the Runaway Jim interlude but some have called “The Wheel” jam (I’m not sure I hear that). Try listening at 5:56 and hear how that simple melody is just build and built around. Really great and, while not one of the best jams of tour (maybe top 10 though), it surely gets #1 for most unexpected jam out of a particular song.

“Chalkdust” was appropriately high tempo rager and nicely placed.

“Slave” can only be described as incredibly chill. Even the “Hard Rocking” Em rage sections preceding the jam were played with remarkable restraint and quietness. The jam built very patiently to a peak — for sure…this is Slave…but a very restrained (as always beautiful) peak.

“Julius”. Whatever.

A very standard first set, but a totally unexpected and exciting progression of songs and jams in the second set really made for a unique and interesting night of the Phish.

In the second set, I knew this would become one of my favorite shows I've attended. It brought me back to when I didn't know all the songs (e.g. I had never heard Wombat before), when the band tried different things and sometimes it got sloppy and sometimes it was transcendent, and when Page takes over and absolutely kills it. It had elements of 97/98 spacefunk and great jams (which apparently the kids are calling "2.0").

I've only seen 2 shows since the reunion, and I haven't listened to that many since the first breakup. This was the first outdoor show I've been to in 15 years and this is the 20th anniversary of my first phish show. This show reminded me about why I love Phish so much -- the whole is light years beyond the sum of the parts and when the rocket ship takes off you have no idea where it's going to go.

Awesome show. Glad I was there; hope they come back to Northerly every year -- I'll be there.

I thought this show was great. how can someone look past the opener of 555 and closer of Coil? Then we have set 2 which starts off with one of the best golden ages played IMO, with a great follow up song of mango. Sand, Piper is always a good combo although it may not have been what people want, lol. The piper was great and the transition to Halley's comet was fun. Wombat had a beautiful jam and created the possibility of extended future performances. And Julius, one of the best encores to end a show. and this was ripped. Too bad no one ever gives it love, I thought it was a great version. Good show overall, would have loved to be there.

Late review I know, but I just got home from work and have some free time so I thought I'd give it a go.

The first ever 555 opener definitely had the crowd going, though it is clear that the boys are still trying to figure out where this one belongs in the set (but I feel a type ii version isn't horribly far off).

By the time Reba came around and I noticed how well Trey was nailing the composed section, I turned to my friend who was joining me for his first show and told him that this was a sign that we were in for a great night. We spent a good portion of the remainder of the first set trying to meet up with some guys that we had shared a cab ride to the venue that were trying to get us into the floor, but to no avail. Oh well.

Being on the rail of the lawn during the jam out of Golden Age was pretty great too, especially watching CK5's bubbly lighting effects! Though not quite on par with the two monster versions of Fall 2013, this GA closed out with some ambient effects that created a lot of stratospheric space, driven by Fish similar to the '13 Hampton version. The > into the Mango Song mini-bustout couldn't have made me happier. The Piper -> Halley's will probably be forever debated as one of biggest ripcords or most spontaneous segues of 3.0, but warrants multiple listens either way.

Wombat. That's really the most intelligible thing I can say regarding this subject compared to some of the other reviews, but when I realized that Trey was taking this marsupial in the type ii direction I pretty much lost my shit. As a self-proclaimed noob, I was pretty excited to be witness to the first jammed-out version of the funkiest, arguably Phish-iest track off of Fuego. The bomb dropped by Mike in this jam is probably the most earth-shattering since the Randall's Carini - though not quite on the same level.

The remainder of the set was definitely a cool-down, but was fun nonetheless, with a Page-erific Julius to send us home on the train back to Waukegan.

Anybody know the stats on a coil closer and a slave closer in the same show? made my night to hear both in the same show. I watched the webcast last night, heard everyone in the crowd screaming for wombat just as they went into sand. thought the segue between piper-> halley's was awesome. wombat was a great surprise. glad they didn't play backwards down the number line.

This show... was not that good at all. I had really high hopes after a tight ending to the first set and a nice segue from Golden Age to Mangos. The Sand started off a little wobbly and got tight quickly. As has been mentioned in previous reviews, the shift from Sand to Piper was whiplash-inducing, and a real bummer. I honestly kind of checked out after that.
Listen, internet, I love Phish, and I don't really enjoy writing negative reviews. I just have to admit to myself that this band isn't consistently bringing the creative heat they once were. After the show was over, I went back and listened to some of my favorite moments from 2009, 2010. Even then the music was crackling with energy. Now it's just not. Certainly every band can have an off night, particularly when its members are all pushing 50, but those moments of brilliance are getting so rare as to wonder if it's even worth the money and effort anymore. And it really hurts to say that. Anybody need Dick's tickets? I'm serious